262 transfers this summer – Bundesliga getting younger all the time

4 years ago

Frankfurt am Main - Following the end of the summer transfer window on Monday evening (31 August 2015), the average age of the 521 professional players contracted to the league’s 18 clubs was 24.5 years, according to an official study by the department of match operations of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga.

That figure is 0.6 years lower than in the 2014/15 season. Compared to the result of the first survey conducted by the DFL in the 2001/02 campaign (27.09 years), and to the peak average player age from 2002/03 (27.12 years), the figure has dropped by as much as 2.59 and 2.62 years respectively.

There have been a total of 262 transfers in this summer’s transfer period, compared to 248 in 2014/15. Some 114 of those 262 transfers involved clubs in the Bundesliga (down from 118 in 2014/15), with 148 involving Bundesliga 2 sides (up from 130 in 2014/15). A total of 24 players were transferred from Bundesliga 2 to the Bundesliga, with 46 moving the other way. Transfers within Germany numbered 185 (in 2014/15 that figure was 159), with 68 transfers concluded between Bundesliga clubs (equal to 2014/15) and 117 in Bundesliga 2 (up from 91 in 2014/15). As many as 77 players were signed from clubs abroad (the number was 89 in 2014/15), with 46 joining a top-flight club (compared to 50 in 2014/15) and 31 signing for a side in the second tier (compared to 39 in 2014/15). A total of 79 players left Germany for a club abroad.

As well as the 521 licensed Bundesliga players, there are 486 players under contract at Bundesliga 2 clubs. In addition to the total of 1,007 professional footballers, there are another 103 contracted players and reserve players that can be fielded in competitive matches. In total, there are 196 professional players who were trained at a German academy – 110 in the Bundesliga and 86 in Bundesliga 2. Of the 665 German licensed players, 307 are contracted to clubs in the Bundesliga and 358 in Bundesliga 2. Following the initially profound effects of the so-called Bosman ruling of 1995, when the the number of German players in German professional football decreased - at times dramatically - the number of German players in the nation’s top two tiers has increased at an almost constant rate since the introduction of the academy system (2003/04) and the local player rule (2009/10).

In the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 there are 342 foreign players. The greatest foreign representation comes in the form of Austrian (37) and Swiss players (27), followed by France and Brazil (both 19) and Spain and the Netherlands (both 14).

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